Obatala

Obatala (; lit. 'King of White Cloth') also known as Oriṣanla (lit. 'The Great Orisha') is the king of all oriṣa in the Yoruba religion, believed to have created the Earth (Ile Ayé) and humans. In some versions of the story, he failed the task by being drunk on palm wine after being tempted by the trickster deity Eshu and was outperformed by his little brother Oduduwa. He was instead given the job of creating human beings. This was authorized by the Supreme Deity, Olodumare which gave Obatala the name "sculptor of humankind". "Obatala descended from Heaven on a chain to mold the first humans and now molds every child in the womb, according to the Yoruba. Obatala created the world and humanity, whereas Ọlọrun breathed life into humanity. Ọbatala is therefore considered the father of humanity and owner of all the heads where human souls reside."
Obatala had worked on his task with the assistance of Yemòó. He is believed to be successful at creating human beings with water and clay.
According to the oral traditions of Ifẹ, the mortal Obatala was the founder and king of Ife during its classical period. His position as the King was challenged by Oduduwa who assumed leadership of the town for a brief moment. However, Obatala was able to emerge victorious in the contest and it led to the murder of his rival Oduduwa and the retrieval of his throne.
While there exists an Obatala in the Yoruba pantheon, the understanding of the qualities of the deity Obatala was merged into the human Obatala that ruled in Ifẹ upon his posthumous deification. Thus, the human Obatala who was the king at Ife was admitted to the Yoruba pantheon as an aspect of the primordial divinity of the same name.…